The Nation : VA Offering Illegal Care, Study Charges

The Veterans Administration has for years been financing the medical care of tens of thousands of ineligible patients, a substantial portion of whom were unrelated to any veterans, a newly released internal report shows. The VA inspector general’s office assailed the agency for defying auditors’ previous recommendations on how to stop the waste of up to $66.1 million. It found that as many as 37% of the patients granted financing between 1982 and 1986 should not have qualified for these benefits. Auditors recommended that the VA try to recover most of these funds from patients. However, VA spokesman Bonner Day said the agency will not seek to recover the money because it bore responsibility for the mistaken payments.